UPDATE: Candidate for DA calls for Joe Early to resign

Monday

Apr 30, 2018 at 10:05 AM

Above, Worcester County DA Joe Early Jr./File photo

A local lawyer running for district attorney is calling for incumbent DA Joe Early Jr.’s “immediate resignation” in the wake of investigations into the altering of the arrest report of the daughter of a judge who once worked with Early.

Early's campaign on Monday, meanwhile, indicated he is moving forward with is re-election bid.

Attorney Blake Rubin said he is “deeply troubled by the acts of DA Early” after reviewing the reports of Attorney General Maura Healey and an independent review initiated by State Police, in addition to news articles by Worcester Magazine. He is suggesting Early “outright lied” about his involvement in the arrest report.

Attorney Blake Rubin, who is running for district attorney, has called for incumbent DA Joe Early Jr. to resign/courtesy photo

Early was cited in both reports, the results of investigations launched in the wake of the arrest of Alli Bibaud, daughter of Dudley District Court Judge Tim Bibaud, on drug and other charges. At issue was the order for now-retired State Police Col. Rich McKeon for Bibaud’s arrest report to be changed, with some of the statements attributed to her, including comments that she had to perform oral sex to obtain the drugs and an alleged offer to perform sexual favors for a state trooper in exchange for leniency, scrubbed from the report. McKeon also ordered the discipline of two troopers involved in the arrest.

Early, according to both reports, had conversations with McKeon in which he asked the colonel what he was going to do about Bibaud’s arrest report and told him revisions could be made to the arrest report. Early also advised McKeon he was going to be filing a motion to redact the report. McKeon is quoted in Healey’s report as saying, “Well, it was after that I had the conversation with Joe Early, and all indications were that this was the appropriate thing to do. I must say that he was previously my boss. He’s the prosecuting district attorney in that county, and he was in charge of the prosecution of this case. And I was led to believe that everything that I was about to do was not only the right thing, but it was the appropriate thing to do.”

Last November, roughly two months after Bibaud’s Oct. 16 arrest, Early, asked by this reporter at a Veterans Day event in Worcester whether he had asked anyone to alter Bibaud’s arrest report, said he had not. He also said changes to arrest reports are done “all the time.”

According to the investigative reports, Early had not previously contacted McKeon about his role in any arrest report.

On Saturday, responding to an email from this reporter, a spokesperson for Early confirmed the DA’s earlier denial that he had asked for the report to be changed was “an accurate statement.”

In a statement released on Sunday, Rubin said Early’s denials “are in stark contrast to the truth determined by both the attorney general and special counsel for the State Police.”

Rubin, referencing numerous telephone messages between Early and McKeon cited in both investigative reports, said, “The only logical conclusion based on the numerous communications between DA Early and Col. McKeon is that DA Early requested Col. McKeon order the revision of the [arrest] report.”

Rubin said he is “deeply troubled that the chief law enforcement officer of Worcester County apparently outright lied about his lack of involvement in seeking to revise the arrest report.”

“This unethical behavior,” Rubin continued, “undermines the public trust in the district attorney and undermines the trust police must have in the district attorney. How can DA Eary perform his responsibilities as chief law enforcement officer of Worcester County if the citizens and law enforcement of Worcester County don’t believe what he says or trust his judgment?”

Rubin said the investigation “leaves many unanswered questions,” why Early lied about his involvement in the revised arrest report being among them.

In an email, Early's campaign reiterated an earlier statement that the DA's office acted "properly and lawfully," and acted in accordance with state laws, concerning the Bibaud arrest report. In declining to pursue criminal charges, the attorney general's report "affirms clearly and unequivocally that all actions taken were lawful," the campaign said.

"All standard protocols were followed and applied appropriately as they are for all cases, including the requirement within those guidelines to avoid any public condemnation of the accused," the email stated.

The campaign did not directly address Rubin's call for the DA to resign, instead saying Early "looks forward to running a positive, fact-based campaign" promoting many of his initiatives, including his work on the opioid crisis as well as preventing and reducing crime.